


Charcoal

by meier



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-19
Updated: 2015-03-19
Packaged: 2018-03-18 13:31:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3571427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meier/pseuds/meier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ymir and Historia are in the same art class.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Charcoal

                Historia exhaled and glanced from the clock back towards the bowl of fruit settled on a table in the middle of the classroom. Her wrist limply flicked across her paper as she shaded folds of cloth with light, delicate strokes. Looking up again, she saw the hand of another student moving quickly and fluidly, spindly fingers pressing dark charcoal into her page with harsh gestures. Burning amber eyes moved hastily between her sketch and her subject while wiry strands of hair fell onto her face from where they had been clipped back. Historia wondered how someone could be dusted with so many freckles. She wondered if they covered the other girl’s entire body and were scattered across her back like stars. The mechanical trill of the bell woke Historia from hazy thoughts and she shoved her supplies into their respective storage spaces, rushing out of the room to her next class.

                After dragging herself out of Biology, Historia walked out to the parking lot with a yawn. From the corner of her eye, she saw the same girl from art class; Ymir is her name, Historia thinks. Curiosity consumed her and she attempted to inconspicuously direct her path towards the tall girl. Ymir sat hunched at one of the school benches, a bony shoulder moving fluidly with the motions of her hand. Dark hair brushed at the nape of her neck and Historia could see freckles speckling the dark skin exposed there. She peered over the other girl’s shoulder to see the sketchbook she was working in.

                “Whoa,” she breathed, unable to contain her surprise.

               On the page she saw herself, herself drawn with strong, proud lines. The girl on the page stared back at her with an intensity she had never seen in her own gaze. Broad, dark lines formed the curve of her nose, the bow of her lips, and her eyes. Historia’s own eyes widened at the expression the drawing held. Its eyes were cold, empty, longing, and pained, as if they were looking through the world around them rather than directly at it. Her chest constricted. This girl she had never even spoken to, never had the slightest interaction with other than their shared art class, had expressed in only several lines the parts of herself she thought she kept concealed from everyone around her. Ice rushed over her, then fire, and her skin crawled as she stared at her charcoal reflection.

                Hearing Historia’s gasp, Ymir instantly recoiled and her narrow eyes widened, a look of shock and terror spreading across her face as she realized who was beside her.

                “Fuck,” she stammered, slamming her sketchbook closed and rubbing her hand across her face, smearing black dust down her cheek. Red rushed down her face, burning the tips of her ears and flushing her freckle-dusted neck.

                “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” the girl scrambled to shove her things in her bag, slung the worn strap across her body, and walked away as quickly as she could without running, shoving dirtied hands into her jeans.

                “Hey, wait!” Historia shouted after the lanky silhouette that was rushing towards a faded bus. Ymir only quickened her pace and leaped up the bus’s steps, disappearing from sight.

                Historia rubbed her hands together in the chilled air, eyes prickling with tears she hadn’t known had appeared. She stared after the bus as it pulled slowly out of the parking lot, knowing she had to find out more about this girl who saw through the persona she had worked so hard to build. Historia felt more alive than she had in a long time.


End file.
